Bud, Not Buddy has a collection of clues: A handful of flyers and a bag full of rocks, that his mother left him. Without any knowledge of why these items are import, Bud, Not Buddy, is determined to discover their meaning – and his intuition tells him they will lead him to his father!

Bud, Not Buddy (Newbery Medal winner 2000), from author, Christopher Paul Curtis, is the emotional story of Bud (named so after a flower – and informed by his mother that he should never let anyone call him Buddy!), who after his mother’s death, is put in an orphanage and subsequent foster care. After being locked in a barn by his foster parents, Bud escapes to begin his quest for his father. What he finds will surprise him, but it’s the family he is searching for, nonetheless.

I adored this story. Bud is a kid you want to wrap your arms around and bundle him up to care for at home. His search to find his father is full of accounts that no child should endure, but somehow, he finds a way. Your heart aches at the trials and difficulties he faces, but it is a testament that it truly takes a village.

This was the losing selection for our February mother/daughter book club – I’m so glad I decided to read it anyway. Understandably an award winner!